DVD / TShirt Choices - A Note
Some potential Popes are concerned about how to make their DVD choice or T-Shirt size known. Be at peace! When you've paid for your perk you'll receive an email with a link to the TTPTCT talks and a link where you can specify choice and size! We're quite organised for worshippers of Eris!
Cosmic Trigger - A Play, A Conference, A Festival
The Play
In
1976 Ken Campbell staged Illuminatus!
in Liverpool. This production - and the novel that it was based on - irrevocably changed the lives of all who were involved, both
performers and audiences, and wound up opening The Cottesloe at the
National Theatre. It is still talked about in Liverpool as one of the
city's great happenings.
We
are now re-invoking that mythic production but this time telling the
story that surrounded the writing and staging of Illuminatus!:
the extraordinary life and times of its co-author, Robert Anton
Wilson, as the central thrust; the unstoppable force that was Ken
Campbell barging into the action from behind the scenes; and some
extracts from the original production woven through. As Ken would
say, “this is an enthusiasts’
production”.
Daughter of Ken, Daisy Campbell, continued his legacy by directing the epic revival of the 24 hour play The Warp in various theatres, festival spaces and raves around London in the 90’s.
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Now it’s time to tackle another one of Wilson’s works: Cosmic Trigger, the philosophical tract which has influenced figures as diverse as X-Files creator Chris Carter, SF author and futurist David Brin, legendary singer-songwriter Sting, and author Tom Robbins. Philip K Dick said Wilson had “reversed every mental polarity in me, as if I had been pulled through infinity”. Jesse Walker called Wilson “the elephant in our cultural living room”.
Daisy’s adaptation recounts the period of Bob’s life around the inspiration for, writing of and theatrical culmination of Illuminatus!, a period where he also met iconic countercultural figures like Timothy Leary, Alan Watts and William Burroughs, all of whom feature in the play. The narrative slips in and out of Illuminatus! itself and the production employs song, music, projections and stagecraft to evoke the real-life hallucinogenic trip through conspiracy, paranoia and enlightenment that transformed Bob from a simple Playboy editor into the influential countercultural figure he is today.
Robert
Anton Wilson sought to induce in his readers agnosticism; not just
about God, but about everything; and all his work blurs the lines between truth and fiction. This
will be reflected in a staging style that often breaks down
theatrical conventions, with actors amidst the audience, tiny
stage-sets that can pop up anywhere and cutting-edge projection
trickery, allowing the very walls of the theatre to drop away at one
climatic moment. Alan Moore (The Watchmen, V For Vendetta) will voice The World's Most Intelligent
Computer, and Jamie Reid (Sex Pistols album artist) will lend his
occult artworks to the production.
But there's more...
The 'Find The Others' Conferestival
The three hour play will be the centerpiece to a three day festival of Bob, celebrating the author, his work, his influence and his legacy. A range of influential contemporary speakers will attend and give addresses, people like Robin Ince, John Higgs and members of the Maybe Logic Academy.
This will be a forum to listen to contemporary countercultural figures, network with like-minded individuals and pick up rare books and goods in the marketplace.
So you’re not just funding a play, you’re funding a circus that we want to bring to your town.
Bob’s
ideas are profound, optimistic and funny. His legacy will one day be
remembered alongside such literary philosophers as Aldous Huxley and
James Joyce – if those of us whose lives he’s enriched pull
together now and make this event a reality
The Goal - 23 (000)
We want to raise £23,000 to finance the full production of the play and run the conferestival.
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As you saw in the video, we've already put on a taster of the production for a handful of loose change and a great deal of volunteer enthusiasm. You have to agree, it looks pretty good. A proper budget would allow us to put on the whole production, with even more mind-frazzling staging. We would be able to bring incredible, inspirational speakers to the conference to present their works. We would be able to publicise the project. Oh, and we would be able to pay people for their time.
Once the show and festival are up and running, they are intended to be self-funding.
First Liverpool, then London, then Brighton.
Then, the States...
..and perhaps the world.
Your
money will be paying for cutting edge projection hardware, incredibly
hard-working cosmic creatives, lighting, staging, costumes, sets, venue hire and
festival infrastructure.
Perks
We have some amazing and utterly unique perks we have been offered in support of the project.
SWAG: Good old fashioned swag; badges, t-shirts, posters and the like; emblazoned with Cosmic Trigger team graphic designer Polly Wilkinson’s incredible visual design that permeates the production.
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ARCHIVAL MEDIA: We’ve reached into the Campbell archives and pulled enormous favours to be able to re-release some very rare material for the crowdfunder. Some of Ken Campbell’s One Man Shows, a never-before-heard interview with Bob Wilson and Robert Shea backstage at the National Theatre during a production of Illuminatus!, a limited re-release of the Illuminatus! recording (all eight hours of it!).
DONATIONS: Author John Higgs has donated some of his books, cult punk-era artist Jamie Reid has offered signed prints, Alan Moore agreed to a video interview in which he expounds his Wilson connections, Discordian Historian Adam Gorightly has offered his amazing history of the discordian movement which is published on the very day our crowdfund launches. And more offers are coming in as we move forward. Check back regularly for updates.
EXPERIENCES: From tickets to the final show to an illuminati abduction headed by Aleister Crowley that spirits you off on a magickal tour of Liverpool, we’ve concocted some unique and memorable experiences for committed funders. Check them out.
So Much!
We have so much good stuff it doesn’t fit into the little perk descriptions on IndieGoGo! So we had to put together a website to show them to you. Check it out for in-depth explanations (and some photos) of all the Deluxe Fnords we have on offer.
Undo
the hex that money has cast on your mind. Its loss will not threaten
your survival on this planet.
Now give it to us.
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Flexible Funding
Flexibility keeps you young. We have decided to practise the yoga of crowdfunding.
The
adaptation is written and has been approved by Wilson’s estate, we've staged promotional events up and down the country, enticed extraordinary talent on-board and worked round the clock to gather
all these fabulous perks. This baby is on a roll… but should we for
any reason fall short of the full production target – fear
not! We will use what we raise to put on the festival with a scratch
version of the play, thus manifesting such an up-swelling of
enthusiasm that we can do it full justice next year.
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However those of you outside the UK can really help us to keep transaction costs down. If you can use the IndieGoGo Credit Card payment system, more of the donation goes to us!
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can donate, then we thank you! Any donation, no matter how small, will help. But even if you can't you can still help us out!
Share!
Link people to the campaign, the website or the Facebook page. Tweet your support; use the hashtag #CosmicTrigger. Follow @2CosmicTrigger3. Stop strangers in the street and explain the shining brilliance of this project with wild, staring eyes.
Preach!
There is also a large section of the public who love Bob, love Cosmic Trigger, but aren’t up to speed on crowdfunding or the net. Do you know someone like that? Tell them about the project! Get 23 biosurvival tickets off them and donate on their behalf. Or donate in the name of a complete stranger and get them a perk. Give the gift of Bob.
Act!
Finally, we want you to pull your own Cosmic Trigger.
We define this as undertaking an act
of Art-Magick that will release
a tsunami of personal meaning, sending you on a journey through
Chapel Perilous in order to piece yourself back together.
And what does that mean? Well, that's up to you... anything from writing a poem and reading it out, drawing something, documenting performance art, designing a magickal sigil, holding a ritual, creating a flashmob to even stranger and utterly indescribable undertakings!
Whatever you do, share the the
evidence of your art-magick online, be it the act itself or the physical result, by documenting it with a video or photos, and upload it to YouTube/Vimeo/Instagram/Pinterest with the hashtag #PullMyTrigger.
The best art-magick as judged by Eris will win a perk worth
£230.
Now Get Out There And Evolve!
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Perk Showcase!
Check out in detail our perks and their glossy photos, a beautiful catalogue of desire you cannot resist. Click below to head offsite and covet...
Bunless Hot Dogs
Time To Pull The Cosmic Trigger
Badges Of Cosmocity
Cosmic Poster
Cosmic T-Shirt
The Cosmic Video Store
Alan Moore Interview DVD
Beyond Our Ken DVD
Mystery Bruises DVD
Jamais Vu DVD
Furtive Nudist DVD
Exclusive Delights
John Higgs Signed Books
Adam Gorightly Signed Books
Hail Eris Plus Gemstone File
Wilson / Shea Illuminatus! Interview
Limited Edition Artworks
Limited Edition Selves Cards
Jamie Reid Signed Print
Jamie Reid Signed GLOW IN THE DARK Print
Preposterously Perky Packs
The Kallisti Swag PackThelema Pack Of Power
Become Part Of The Conspiracy
Join The Crew
Captain Hagbard's Delight
Illuminati Abduction
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